HANNAH GARTSIDE - FINALIST

ARTIST BIO

Hannah Gartside (b. London, 1987) is a textile artist and costume designer/ maker based in Melbourne. In 2016 she completed a Bachelor of Fine Art in Sculpture and Spatial Practice at Victorian College of Art, and was the recipient of the Lou & Mary Senini Student Art Award, and a National Gallery of Victoria Women's Association prize. For five years Gartside worked as a costume-maker for classical ballet, theatre and opera. She also holds a BFA (Hons) in Fashion Design from Queensland University of Technology. Gartside uses processes including sewing, quilting and wet-felting to reveal the sculptural, emotive and interactive capacities of her materials. Her work examines desire, intimacy, and the female-gaze. e year.

STATEMENT

New Terrain (of The Fantasies) is a suspended textile sculpture made from found 1960's petticoat lace trim, tulle, thread and garter belt clips. New Terrain is made from 92 metres of lace, cut into trapezium shapes and stitched back together to create 46 hexagons. The hexagons are tessellated in the style of a patchwork quilt. Cones of the same lace protrude from the centre of each hexagon.

The cone shape references breasts and spikes; it is both generous and aggressive. The soft malleability of the lace is contradicted by its presence in space. Gartside's series The Fantasies presents her queer erotic vision of an expansive and fecund femininity.